Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Red Kites and Black Birds

The Pebble: An Allegory of the Holocaust by Marius Marcinkevičius

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The Pebble: An Allegory of the Holocaust by Marius Marcinkevičius, illustrated by Inga Dagilė and translated by Jura Avizienis is a clever telling of the Holocaust story via one child’s experiences. We follow a child from inside to the ghetto, to the day they leave and do not return. The mystical element might be assumed “real” and therefore, having a younger child missing the metaphor, but older readers/children and adults will appreciate it. The artwork is sparse, but creates a tone that allows the realism […]

Finding yourself

A Sky of Paper Stars by Susie Yi

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A Sky of Paper Stars by Susie Yi is probably more of a 3.5 than a pure 4 rating as there were a few bumps for me. However, I enjoyed seeing Korean culture, some of it I knew and other aspects new. My unscientific opinion is that probably Korean culture is not known well by the aimed age reader (a stronger 8 to 12). My experience with Asian based characters seems to lean towards Chinese first, with Japanese second, then the people of Taiwan and […]

Zumrat Dawut

I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp by Zumrat Dawut and Anthony Del Col

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While I wanted more from I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp, this graphic novel is an interesting introduction to the people of  Xinjiang (an autonomous region in China) and how they have been treated by the Chinese government. Many women, among them  Zumrat Dawut, have been and are being persecuted because of their faith. Dawut is a Mulsim woman, a wife and a mother of three. She tells her story to Anthony Del Col and the United Nations Human Rights Council through interviews. There is […]

Tea for you and me

Tea with an Old Giant by Jane Yolen

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Sometimes when you find/see a book and/or title, you think it is one thing. You base that assumption on the cover image and/or the author and/or illustrator’s name. Or you base it even on other books you have recently read. And when you finally do read that book (I was lucky enough to have one of my book dealers send me a finished copy), they turn out to be different than expected. Now, a title called Tea with an Old Giant that has a giant […]

What lurks in the corn

The Girl in the Corn by Jason Offutt

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I’m starting my review of The Girl in the Corn, with the that there are big time TRIGGERS in this book. After all, it’s a horror book and therefore there are several horror images. Perhaps they could be more so, but even what they do show (such as the murder of a child, the brutal murder of the dog and several other people, plus drug use/abuse, guns, kidnapping, sex, and what I consider rape) is not pleasant to say the least, and, of course could […]

It’s time for book roundup! Get along little bookies!

The Midnight Mitzvah by Ruth Horowitz

Bo Keeps the Beat: The Piano Pedal Problem by Andrew Bambridge

A Bold Pumpkin Plan by Katy Hudson

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It’s time for a book roundup! Each book is good for all types of readers and listeners. Not only that, they are nice companions to each other with their softer toned stories, illustrations and less traditional “action” stories. This mixture of books is one of the reasons why I love books. You never know what delightful treat you will find. The first and last titles are more traditional picture books, while the middle one has a chapter format and is part of a series. All […]



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